Bring The Heat

2. Best Man

Wren wandered into the theatre, passing by the line of people.

"OI!" one of them hollered, grabbing her arm. She gasped. "Quit cutting the line! Take your turn, jackass!" the man yelled, annoyed. Other people in the line murmured. Wren turned to run out of the theatre, stressed. Why were people being so loud?

"Wait!" another voice rang out. Wren recognized the assertive, yet calm tone. It was the man from the store and the signs out front. He was seated at a foldout table, in the middle of the stage below that the line led up to. He was no longer wearing his blazer, and now looked up at Wren with a curious, inquisitive look on his face. "Come here." he continued, not moving anything but his mouth, completely taken up with Wren. "Come here.".

Wren hesitated, staring at the man, wondering what to do. The line had fallen silent. Hesitantly, she edged past the line of people, and down to the stage. She approached the table.

"You can go," the man said to another guy sitting across from him, who sighed disgruntledly. "You didn't really have a chance anyway..." he muttered as the guy left. The man turned his gaze to Wren. "My name is Best Man. You can call me BM, if we ever become friends." he said, being clear and simple but humanizing himself with a touch of cheekiness. Wren already felt comfortable with him. "I'm Wren." she said, proud that she was having her first conversation.

"Ok, Wren..." BM responded, evaluating this strange girl, "can you tell me if you're ok? Do you need help?". Wren's eyes sparkled. Someone was finally understanding her! She pulled the COLA can out of her pocket and placed it on the table. "Can you open this?"

BM chuckled. He was mystified completely by Wren at this point. He simply had to understand her... and he got a strange feeling that she was the person he was hoping to draw in with this whole thing.

"You can go. You can all go." he announced, signaling for the line to leave. They filed out slowly, reluctantly, and BM walked up and shut the doors behind them. He turned gradually, still with an awestruck look on his face. He returned to the table, and stared at the can like it was the most entertaining thing he'd seen all day.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can open that for you..." BM said, decisively. He opened the can, and placed it back on the table, clasping his hands to his hips and looking at Wren expectedly.

"Thanks." she said, bluntly, and took a sip. It tasted... pretty good. Her throat felt a bit better for a couple seconds.

"Soooooo... you wanna try your luck?" BM asked, desperately curious. "I've got... all these..." he said, gesturing awkwardly to a tray of assorted board games, puzzles, and various items. Wren grabbed one from the top and put it on the table. She felt a competitive spirit welling up inside her.

"Ah. Chess. Interesting choice... this should be fun. Nobody picks Chess anymore..." BM said. He still didn't really understand Wren's deal, but he was just glad to play Chess again. Wren sat across from him silently, but she had a new determined look on her face. BM assessed her as competitive. There was clearly more to her, but she seemed so scared and confused... maybe if he could get her heart in the game, she would open up!

He laid out the board, and assigned Wren as white. He wanted to see what she would do. Wren's competitive spirit was ignited ablaze upon seeing the board laid out. She seemed to miss having an opponent across from her. She felt almost bloodthirsty, urged to win at any cost, and defeat her opponent, no, crush him into the ground so hard that he would never get up and make the mistake of challenging her again.

Wren did not know how to play chess.

She just sat there with a furrowed brow, incredibly focused, running ideas of what the pieces and colours meant. She chewed her thumb aggressively, before something clicked. She looked up at BM smugly, then reached across the board... and flicked over one of his pieces, knocking ot down, as well as the one behind it. "Yes!" she hissed quietly, wild after drawing first blood.

BM was absolutely starstruck.

He stared, frozen, at his two fallen soldiers. BM shook his head in disbelief. "N... no... that's not... no..." he stuttered. He felt entirely defeated. Had she just outsmarted him somehow? No... nothing about this was even close to smart. Wren had her arms crossed with the most confident look on her face, considering what she had just done. He had. To know. More.

BM leaned forward.

"What's up with your clothes? Did you come from a hospital? Is there someone I should call? You don't look too well..." he demanded. Wren kept her confident look, tilting her head and looking at him with... pity? BM thought about it harder. Wren was completely ignoring his attempts to disturb her confidence. He smiled. She didn't really get it - but she was smart. She had potential. And he could sense it... exactly what he was looking for. BM reset his pieces.

"I don't think you can do that." Wren said smugly.

"Of course not. My mistake."

He laid them back down. Morbid curiosity was really all that was driving him at this point. Time to play her game... BM reached out to Wren's side of the board, aiming a sideways flick at one of her rooks, and unleashed. All of her pieces toppled neatly.

"Shit..." Wren muttered.

BM chuckled. He then began to explain to Wren that she should come with him anyway, somewhere where she could have food, water, and allies, but noticed that she wasn't listening. She had a hyperfocus on something on his shirt. BM looked down, but couldn't see anything.

"What- is- is there- do I- I don't-" he stuttered, confused.

"No, it's nothing. You've just... got a thing... on your shirt... right there." she responded, and reached out to point at it.

BM looked down, and... THWACK! Wren flicked him up the nose. BM froze. He wasn't looking, but he just knew Wren was sitting across from him, with an annoyingly smug and self-satisfied grin. He could feel it

"Gotcha!"

BM just sighed. Just sighed and smiled. He was really gonna have fun working with this kid.